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Greta Garbo

Garbo above the surface

In her very first film Garbo portrayed a gin in a bathing suit. Not until nearly two decades later did Garbo appear once again in a bathing suit before the camera and this took place in her last film. Another two decades and a telephoto lenses caught Garbo bathing on the Riviera.

On the screen

Once upon a time there was a man by the name of Edgar H. Donne. Born in England, he settled as a farmer in Michigan, where he lived the life of a hermit even though he had some wealth. He owned about 175 acres of land. Edgar H. Donne loved Greta Garbo. He wrote to her but never got an answer. Neighbors have related that he travelled to Hollywood in the hope of catching sight of her. He never saw her.

Edgar H. Donne drew up his will in 1936 as follows: “My land, my secunities, my money and other possessions shall go to Greta Louisa Gustafsson, film star, better known by the name of Greta Garbo, and to no one else. If Greta Garbo should become my wife all my possessions are to go to Greta Louisa Donne. Ten years later Edgar H. Donne died at the age of 70. The fortune he left was estimated as $ 15,000 in the form of jewels, securities and cash. Judge Irving J. Tucker of Allegan, Michigan, tried to get in touch with Garbo to turn over the inheritance. In the meantime he received piles of letters from persons in 12 states and two European countries who had opinions concerning the inheritance or made claims of being Greta Garbo.

Five months later Garbo sent word by letter that she was willing to accept the inheritance and turn it over to a charity. “1 never knew Mr Donne“, said Garbo. She had a vague memory of having received letters from him. Such letters were normally handled by her secretary. The charity later sold the land to a private enterprise. There was oil in the ground.

The story of Garbo in print and pictures is a remarkable mixture of unawareness of all conceivable human interests. Garbo has remained silent.

“1 have never written any sort of article for publication. 1 have never told my life story to a journalist“, she has said. The statement was sufficient to give rise to a number of articles.

“I’ll soon become a little old lady if I go on like this“, Garbo wrote while still in her twenties. “I live a life that a 70-years-old would appreciate. But 1 have got the title of ‘the mystery’.“ Today Garbo is an image even for people who have never seen her on the screen.

Garbo has appeared in a total of 27 feature rnovies. All her work in studios was confined to two decades. The directors, the performers and other such facts about her films have been documented in over fifty books that have been published about her.

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1-5: Cover  |  6-7  |  8-9  |  10-11  |  12-13: Family  |  14-15: Grandmother  |  16-17: Early Silence  |  18-19: Mother / Father · Confirmation  |  20-21: Primary School  |  22-23: School days · sister / brother  |  24-25: Garbo's childhood home  |  26-27: The girl in the barber shop  |  28-29: The girl in the hat department  |  30-31: Darbo-Gábor-Garbo  |  32-33  |  34-35: Arrived!  |  36-37  |  38-39: Greetings from Gurra  |  40-41  |  42-43: Waiting  |  44-45  |  46-47  |  48-49: Launching  |  50-51  |  52-53  |  54-55  |  56-57  |  58-59: Garbo's car  |  60-61: Garbo and the prince  |  62-63: Handwriting  |  64-65: Home to Mother  |  66-67  |  68-69  |  70-71: The Sphinx  |  72-73: Homage  |  74-75: Caricature  |  76-77  |  78-79: The idol  |  80-81: Leave me alone  |  82-83: On board  |  84-85  |  86-87: In Sweden  |  88-89  |  90-91: Conquest  |  92-93: Fashion · Con garbo · Garbo's diet  |  94-95  |  96-97: Garbo talks  |  98-99  |  100-101: Just friends  |  102-103: Four angles of Garbo  |  104-105  |  106-107: Garbo on camera  |  108-109: The stars predict  |  110-111  |  112-113: Dark glasses  |  114-115: Suddenly  |  116-117: High Society  |  118-119: Garbo laughs  |  120-121: Walks  |  122-123: Big game  |  124-125: Passport  |  126-127: Miss G  |  128-129  |  130-131  |  132-133: The casual visitor · Get-away  |  134-135: Garbo above the surface · On the screen  |  136-137  |  138-139  |

 

© Ture Sjolander · GARBO · 1971
www.GRETAGARBO.homestead.com  ·  www.greta-garbo.de
Press Articles about the Myth Greta Garbo